The Cure For Dreaming - REVIEW

Set in Oregon in the 1900s, a young girl named Olivia Mead, lives with her controlling father who feels that her headstrong behavior needs to be snuffed out. He hires a hypnotist to put her under hypnosis and remove her rebellion, but instead, Henri gives her the gift of seeing the world as it truly is. Olivia has dreams of going to college and standing up for women's rights in a time when women were expected to be obedient, quiet little homemakers with no goals aside from finding a husband and raising children.

Henri's character was a bit mysterious and kept me guessing throughout the book. Olivia's father was infuriating. I wanted to feel sorry him, his wife left him alone to raise their daughter while she ran off to pursue her own dreams, but his attitude was so vile that I felt only contempt for the man. Olivia was strong minded and intelligent. She was a likable character, even if I didn't feel like I entirely connected with her.

There were added elements of horror when Olivia sees people's true nature as visions of beasts and vampires, but none of it was particularly terrifying. The romance in this book was sweet and didn't overpower the story. The pacing was great and I never lost interest. I think there could have been more depth to the story and the characters, but this was still an enjoyable read.